Wayne Soutter successfully pioneers new North Channel route!

Yesterday/last night Wayne Soutter successfully swam the North Channel by a new route from the Mull of Kintyre to Ballycastle in 12 hours and fifteen minutes. Swim map attached (thanks forum member @mpfmark).

The North Channel is occasionally know by Irish swimmers as the Mouth of Hell, and is widely regarded to be the toughest Channel swim in the world. Wayne becomes the 14th person (I think) to Solo out of over 90 attempts. It has all the difficulties of the English Channel but even lower temperatures and a huge Lion's Mane jellyfish problem, which have previously caused swims to be abandoned by swimmers having been stung so frequently that eyes swell shut, tongues swell in the mouth even more than usual, and toxin build up in the joints.

Kevin Murphy, King of the English Channel with three crossings, said of it: "I’ve done 56-mile swims. I’ve done 52-hour swims. I’ve done a high-altitude lake swim. I’ve done Loch Ness where the temperature falls to 7°C (44.6°F). I’ve swum in air temperature of -34°C. I’ve done a Norwegian fjord passing the inflow from glaciers. I’ve swum in South Africa with the Great White Sharks. I’ve done the Catalina and Santa Barbara Channels. When I’m asked what’s the toughest of all, my answer is the North Channel. I’ve done it three times and it still frightens me".

Wayne's new route, though a shorter route than usual, has never been tried because of the potentially extremely strong currents coming into Northern Ireland, similar to Cap Griz Nez, and his map show how much he was pulled.